When you visit Florida beaches, especially during sea turtle nesting season, your mantra should be Clean, Dark, Flat. Learn more about how we can make the beach safer for sea turtles.
What’s going on?
Each year, sea turtles make between 40,000 and 84,000 nests along the Florida coast. One of the most serious threats to sea turtle nesting is disturbance from humans that obstructs the paths sea turtles use to get to and from the ocean safely. These disturbances can include trash, sandcastles, holes, vehicle tracks, and lights. Additionally, artificial lighting near the shore can disorient hatchlings and cause them to wander inland rather than towards the ocean. Lights from condos, houses, and hotels can also discourage females from nesting, and if this happens multiple times, the female will potentially deposit her eggs in the ocean.
To keep these beaches healthy and accessible to people and sea turtles for future generations, it is important to be a responsible beachgoer and keep our beaches clean, dark, and flat.
Why is it important?
In order to give sea turtle hatchlings the best chance of success, we must keep our beaches flat and obstruction free. Hatchlings can be too small to climb out of holes left by beachgoers, so keeping the beach flat allows sea turtles to have the freest possible path to the water.
What you can do.
Here’s how you can make it easier for sea turtles to get to and from the ocean safely:
- Put away beach chairs, umbrellas, and any other obstacles.
- Pick up trash, even if it’s not yours.
- Leftover food can also attract scavengers like racoons, birds, and coyotes who may find nests and eat the eggs. Plastic bags can obstruct female sea turtles from nesting.
- Fill in holes and knock down sandcastles.
- Turn off the lights at night if you live in view of the beach.
- Install turtle-friendly lights such as amber and red lighting. These colors are less distracting.
Information from the Sea Turtle Patrol, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the Sea Turtle Preservation Society.